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I realized I had never gone into the last night of the Hula seminar. Well, it was wonderful, as Sunday nights usually are when I spend them with Kawehi's group. My wonderful friend JoNathan wasn't there, but some of my other wonderful friends and extended family were, such as Kawehi, Kamai and Kahea. Also there were the girls I call the titas (Julia, Jonna and the other two whose names I can never seem to hold on to,) some Hula buddies from Ohio (or Wisconson?) a few more folks from Kawehi's group, Uncle Ernie from the band (beautiful falsetto, clear as a bell,) Leigh (who drove us all to Walmart last May,) Noe, another "honorary long distance halau member" of Kawehi's group, and Kumu Johnette, Kumy George's alaka'i. This night we all just sat around in the emptied out dining hall. Kahea had a CD player and it's just an informal ho'ike. Claudine and I showed up around 6 with Chinese food, while most of the others had pizza. Then we just all started to dance. I love watching Kawehi's group because they all move as one, in fluid and powerful movements that I so hope to master someday. I brought along my own performance CD and we had the 'uli'ulis with us, so we did A Kona Hema, Pearly Shells (we were talked into it!) Waikiki Hula, and I did O Keahi A Lonomakua. One of the best moments of the evening was when we started A Kona Hema and I heard Jonna (whom I absolutely admire,) call out, "This is Sonny Ching! Oh, you girls rock!" And, admittedly, the applause I got for O Keahi A Lonomakua. Other hightlights included: Free footrubs for all in attendance from Kawehi (wow, that was awesome!) Noe's makeshift ipu (she used a tin box top,) while Uncle Ernie sang for her; Auntie Johnette dancing while we all sang Kaulana Na Pua for her (no one had that on CD); Kawehi's group doing the firs tone from MKH's first CD (my favorite chant by him of all time); Leigh taking a sip of her water, laughing, and spraying it everywhere and then saying that she was doing a Hula "about the spray of the sea!" (which made me laugh so hard that my stomach ached for about an hour); and really just being with Hula brothers and sisters.
The night ended with Kawehi singing a love song to Kamai while playing the ukulele.
Some pics from Saturday and Sunday:
( Keali'i's exhausted class during a break. )
( Keali'i's class photo. Claudine and I are towards the left, second row from the top. )
( My lovely friend Uncle Dennis dancing at ho'ike Saturday night. )
( FABULOUS picture of Kahea dancing while Keali'i chants. )
( The inspiring Marie Cassidy (93 years old) and her Hula sister Sue Gould (70 something?) dancing at ho'ike. ) Aren't they gorgeous?
( Saturday night's after show show. )
( A new friend, Uncle Arthur, who took Claudine and I out to dinner on Saturday. ) He took a nice picture of Claudine and I that I'll post as soon as I have time to scan it.
( Claudine and I doing the single most bizarre step in A Kona Hema during Sunday night's informal hui. ) You rarely see crossed legs in Hula, but that's Kumu Sonny for you. Geez, I really miss him.
( Kawehi, Kamai and their group dancing at Sunday night's informal hui. )
You can see how chilled out and mellow and just plain lovely that evening was just from those photos, I think. I've got some videos, too, but I'm not sure they have a place here in public. People dancing, choreography, stuff like that. You have to respect that perhaps not everyone wants their Hulas broadcast. Anyway, it was a relaxing night, and to be surrounded by all that Aloha was a joy.
It made me really start to consider the difference between contentment and stimulation. I really do think that you need a little bit of both. Sunday night I was tired, but content, relaxed, totally zen. Comparatively, on Tuesday during the 30 Seconds to Mars concert and after party, I was hyperstimulated, frazzled. Out of my comfort zone, yet having a blast. That's healthy, I think. Right?
Anyway, I have some more pics from Tuesday, some that I took and didn't feel comfortable posting until I spoke to some of the folks in them, and some that I'm in but didn't take. (Surprise!!)
( Jared, the adorably sweet Matt Wachter, Tomo, and the winners of the ball. )
( Jared's silly hat. ) If I may take a moment to squee like a fangirl? Jared is a good-looking man. Honestly, he could be wearing a pelt of rotting animals and he'd still look good.
And the two pictures someone else took that I ended up in:
( That's me on the left of the makeshift stage talking to the Dracula guy while Jared talks to the crowd. )
( That's me on the right, admittedly having a TEEHEE JARED!!! moment. Sorry. ) I actually think I look not too bad in that photo, for it being a shot that I had no idea was being snapped.
Anyway, that's my re-cap of the last night and my pic spam for today. ^_^
The night ended with Kawehi singing a love song to Kamai while playing the ukulele.
Some pics from Saturday and Sunday:
( Keali'i's exhausted class during a break. )( Keali'i's class photo. Claudine and I are towards the left, second row from the top. )( My lovely friend Uncle Dennis dancing at ho'ike Saturday night. )( FABULOUS picture of Kahea dancing while Keali'i chants. )( The inspiring Marie Cassidy (93 years old) and her Hula sister Sue Gould (70 something?) dancing at ho'ike. ) Aren't they gorgeous?( Saturday night's after show show. )( A new friend, Uncle Arthur, who took Claudine and I out to dinner on Saturday. ) He took a nice picture of Claudine and I that I'll post as soon as I have time to scan it.( Claudine and I doing the single most bizarre step in A Kona Hema during Sunday night's informal hui. ) You rarely see crossed legs in Hula, but that's Kumu Sonny for you. Geez, I really miss him.( Kawehi, Kamai and their group dancing at Sunday night's informal hui. )You can see how chilled out and mellow and just plain lovely that evening was just from those photos, I think. I've got some videos, too, but I'm not sure they have a place here in public. People dancing, choreography, stuff like that. You have to respect that perhaps not everyone wants their Hulas broadcast. Anyway, it was a relaxing night, and to be surrounded by all that Aloha was a joy.
It made me really start to consider the difference between contentment and stimulation. I really do think that you need a little bit of both. Sunday night I was tired, but content, relaxed, totally zen. Comparatively, on Tuesday during the 30 Seconds to Mars concert and after party, I was hyperstimulated, frazzled. Out of my comfort zone, yet having a blast. That's healthy, I think. Right?
Anyway, I have some more pics from Tuesday, some that I took and didn't feel comfortable posting until I spoke to some of the folks in them, and some that I'm in but didn't take. (Surprise!!)
( Jared, the adorably sweet Matt Wachter, Tomo, and the winners of the ball. )( Jared's silly hat. ) If I may take a moment to squee like a fangirl? Jared is a good-looking man. Honestly, he could be wearing a pelt of rotting animals and he'd still look good.And the two pictures someone else took that I ended up in:
( That's me on the left of the makeshift stage talking to the Dracula guy while Jared talks to the crowd. )( That's me on the right, admittedly having a TEEHEE JARED!!! moment. Sorry. ) I actually think I look not too bad in that photo, for it being a shot that I had no idea was being snapped.Anyway, that's my re-cap of the last night and my pic spam for today. ^_^
